Latin America

Hal and Nancy Thomas will be retiring in July, 2014. Sort of. Actually, they are switching their focus to the Bolivia History Project.After 35 years of service in Bolivia and then with PRODOLA, a doctoral program for students throughout Latin America, Hal and Nancy have a new project. It’s helping Bolivian Friends discover, document and publicize their own history. The project is in cooperation with INELA – Iglesia Nacional Evangelica Los Amigos, also known as Bolivia Yearly Meeting.

By the end of 2017, the history team hopes to produce:

a book in English

a book in Spanish

a documentary in Spanish with English sub-titles

“We are having more fun with this project than is probably legal,” Hal and Nancy said in an email. “It’s like putting together a huge, complicated and very colorful puzzle. And our first task is to find the missing puzzle pieces! But the discoveries we’re making, both [in archives in the US] and through our team on the field, are delighting us.”

The Thomases are very grateful for the support they’ve received throughout their years of service. They will no longer need financial support after the end of October, 2014. They will take a brief sabbatical between July and October, 2014.

However, the Thomases—and the Board of Global Outreach—will then welcome support for the expenses of the Bolivia History Project. For example, they plan to travel to Bolivia for two months each year of the project.